Darling Homes of Frisco has topped the list of the best North
Texas builders for the third year in a row, ranking highest in
overall customer satisfaction in J.D. Power and Associates' annual
Dallas-Fort Worth builder report.

Overall new-home satisfaction in the D-FW area is about the same
as the national average in the report. The customer ratings of
local builders were up significantly from 2009.

"Fierce competition among homebuilders has led to a market where
only the strongest companies have survived," Paula Sonkin, vice
president of the real estate and construction industries practice
at J.D. Power and Associates, said in the report.

"This is great news for new-home buyers - particularly
first-time buyers - since builders are offering unprecedented high
levels of quality, value and service at relatively low prices."

J.D. Power conducts surveys of recent buyers of new houses for
their opinions of the builders and their products.

The annual report is the only independent assessment of new-home
quality.

Only the biggest builders are ranked, and not all of them agree
to participate.

Top D-FW builder Darling Homes has been in business for more
than 20 years and expects to build almost 400 homes this year in
subdivisions in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston.

The independent firm's homes sell from around $250,000 to almost
$1 million.

"It takes a significant focus and real effort to be successful
in this business, especially in a difficult environment like this,
when consumers are more cautious than ever," founder Bill Darling
said Wednesday. "Our team has always been very focused on customer
satisfaction."

Darling said that most builders have become more sophisticated
in their construction techniques and customer service.

"It's not as haphazard as it used to be, and that's good news
for the customer," he said.

J.D. Power ranked 22 D-FW builders. The consumer quality
research firm rates each firm on factors including sales staff,
warranty and customer service, workmanship and materials, price and
value and home readiness.

Plano-based Highland Homes rated the highest in new-home
quality.

Nationwide, customer satisfaction with new homes scored the
highest since J.D. Power began the survey 14 years ago.

The D-FW area's overall customer ranking was ninth out of the 17
markets that J.D. Power surveys. Phoenix and Las Vegas were tops in
the country for satisfaction with new houses.

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